Elijah Suleiman

Elia Suleiman (born July 28, 1960 in Nazareth , Israel ) is an Arab-Israeli film director .

Life

Suleiman's filmmaking career began in New York , where he lived from 1982 to 1993 and made two short films, Introduction To The End Of An Argument (1991) and Homage By Assassination (1992). In 1994 he returned to Jerusalem and became a lecturer at the Palestinian University of Bir Zait . Suleiman summarized his experiences after his return in 1996 in his first feature film, the political comedy Chronicle of a Disappearance . In this film, Suleiman not only acted as director, producer and screenwriter , but also appeared together with other family members. The Chronicle of a Disappearance was recognized as the best first work at the Venice Film Festival .

Suleiman became famous in 2002 with the film Divine Intervention - A Chronicle of Love and Pain , an anecdotal tragic comedy in which he describes the everyday conflict between Palestinians and Israelis. Critics saw this film in the tradition of Jacques Tati , Jim Jarmusch and Buster Keaton . Suleiman, who also played the leading role in "ES", won several prizes for Divine Intervention , including the Jury Prize of the 55th Cannes International Film Festival , the European Film Prize for the best non-European film and the Bodil for the best non- american film. In 2006 he was a member of the competition jury of the 59th Cannes International Film Festival . Three years later he received another invitation to compete at the 62nd Cannes International Film Festival for his film The Time That Remains . In 2008 he was one of the winners of the Prince Claus Prize .

Elia Suleiman is married to the singer Yasmine Hamdan .

Filmography (selection)

• 1996: Chronicle of a Disappearance (Segell ikhtifa)
• 2001: Divine Intervention - A Chronicle of Love and Pain (Yadon ilaheyya)
• 2019: From Watering the Lemon Tree (It Must Be Heaven)

Web links

• Elia Suleiman in the Internet Movie Database (English)